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The topics of my art are centered in my experience as a black man in America, this experience is filled with contradictions, controversy, complexity, and creativity. My work focuses on a gamut of socio political topics ranging from police brutality to the use of migrant workers in sweatshops. My influences include Kanye West, Basquiat, Tupac Shakur, Kendrick Lamar, Frank Ocean, Malcolm X, and James Baldwin. All of these men exhibit an acceptance of their internal flaws and the contradictions of America. For example, Tupac in particular allowed his art to speak for itself, even if it contradicted his message or was controversial. I am also influenced by the lyrics found in their work, for example my piece on migrant workers, “Concrete”,  interpolates a lyric by singer Frank Ocean from his song Nikes; “These bitches want Nike, they lookin’ for a check”. I used these lyrics for “Concrete” to express how we as the consumers African American youth. My goal is to share messages in my work that would’ve helped me more clearly understand America when I was a kid. By creating art that translates controversial or off-putting messages in an approachable and thoughtful way, I want to help black youth understand the institutions that oppress us. Visual art, through lust after products while those who slave away making them can barely live off of their wages. I work in several mediums, with a focus on gouache, ink, marker, and charcoal. My process begins with a few rough sketches and I recognize that the piece will change throughout the process; my James Baldwin piece has gone through four major variations. In another piece titled “Property of Amerikkka,”  the first sketch did not include the cotton plants that line the bottom of the page. The original setting was a riot scene based on thethe are of my experience as a black man, gives voice to my complex relationship with this country.eep cotton plants because I saw an interesting juxtaposition of modern police officers dragging a black man into a cotton field. As a result, the piece had a more anachronistic quality; which I think really made it more interesting conceptually. The audience I try to reach with my work knee d Ferguson riots in 2014. I addedlense

 

 

 

Contact Me

Cell Phone: 312-401-8025

Home Phone: 973-762-0823

Email: ashton.williams3000@gmail.com

Address: 53 Whiteoak Drive, South Orange NJ